Biblical Interpretation II: Reading: Jerusalem (ISBE Article)

Jerusalem

1. In Cuneiform

The earliest mention of Jerusalem is in the Tell el-Amarna Letters (1450 bc), where it appears in the form Uru-sa-lim; allied with this we have Ur-sa-li-immu on the Assyrian monuments of the 8th-century BC.

The most ancient Biblical form is ירוּשׁלם, yerūshālēm, shortened in Psalm 76:2 (compare Genesis 14:18 ) to Salem, but in Massoretic Text we have it vocalized ירוּשׁלם, yerūshālaim. In Jeremiah 26:18; Esther 2:6; 2 Chronicles 25:1; 2 Chronicles 32:9 we have ירוּשׁלים, yerūshālayim, a form that occurs on the Jewish coins of the Revolt and also in Jewish literature. Modern Talmudic Jews commonly use this form.

2. In Hebrew

Some interpret the Hebrew form ending with aim or ayim as being a dual, referring to upper and lower Jerusalem. Such forms occur in other names as implying special solemnity; such a pronunciation is both local and late.

3. In Greek and Latin

In the Septuagint we get ( Ἰερουσαλήμ, Ierousalḗm ), constantly reflecting the earliest and the common Hebrew pronunciation, the initial letter being probably unaspirated. Soon, however, we meet with (Ἱερουσαλήμ, Hierousalḗm ) - with the aspirate - the common form in Josephus. Also, ( Ἱεροσόλυμα, Hierosóluma ) found in Macc (Books II through IV), and in Strabo. This last form has been carried over into the Latin writers, Cicero, Pliny, Tacitus and Suetonius. It was replaced in official use for some centuries by Hadrian's Aelia Capitolina, which occurs as late as Jerome. It again comes into common use in the documents of the Crusades, while Solyma occurs at various periods as a poetic abbreviation.

In the New Testament we have ( Ἱερουσαλήμ, Hierousalḗm ), particularly in the writings of Luke and Paul, and ( τὰ Ἱεροσόλυμα, tá Hierosóluma ) elsewhere. The King James Version of 1611 has Ierosalem in the Old Testament and Hierusalem in the New Testament. The form Jerusalem first occurs in French writings of the 12th century.

4. The Meaning of Jerusalem

In regard to the meaning of the original name, there is no concurrence of opinion. The oldest known form, Uru-sa-lim, has been considered by many to mean either the "City of Peace" or the "City of (the god) Salem." Other interpreters, considering the name as of Hebrew origin, interpret it as the "possession of peace" or "foundation of peace." It is one of the ironies of history that a city that in all its long history has seen so little peace and for whose possession such rivers of blood have been shed should have such a possible meaning for its name.

5. Other Names

Other names for the city occur. In Isaiah 29:1, occurs the name אריאל, 'ărı̄'ēl probably "the hearth of God," and in Isaiah 1:26 the "city of righteousness." In Psalm 72:16; Jeremiah 32:24 f; Ezekiel 7:23, we have the term העיר, hā‛ı̄r, "the city" in contrast to "the land." A whole group of names is connected with the idea of the sanctity of the site; ‛ı̄r ha -ḳōdhesh, the "holy city" occurs in Isaiah 48:2; Isaiah 52:1; Nehemiah 11:1, and yerūshālayim ha -ḳedhōshāh , "Jerusalem the holy" is inscribed on Simon's coins. In Matthew 4:5 and Matthew 27:53 we have ἡ ἁγία πόλις, hē hagı́a pólis, "the holy city," and in Philo, Ἱερόπολις, Hierópolis, with the same meaning.

In Arabic, the common name is Beit el Maḳdis, "the holy house," or el Muḳaddas, "the holy." The common name, used by Muslims everywhere, el Ḳūds, is a shortened form of el Ḳūds esh Sherēf, "the noble sanctuary."

Non-Muslims usually use the Arabic form Yerusalēm.

II. Geology, Climate, and Springs

1. Geology

The geology of the site and environs of Jerusalem is comparatively simple when studied in connection with that of the land of Palestine as a whole. The outstanding feature is that the rocks consist entirely of various forms of limestone, with strata containing flints; there are no primary rocks, no sandstone (such as comes to the surface on the east of the Jordan) and no volcanic rocks. The lime stone formations are in regular strata dipping toward the Southeast, with an angle of about 10 degrees.

On the high hills overlooking Jerusalem on the East, Southeast, and Southwest there still remain strata of considerable thickness of those chalky limestones which crown so many hilltops of Palestine, and once covered the whole land. On the "Mount of Olives," for example, occurs a layer of conglomerate limestone known as Nāri, or "firestone," and another thicker deposit, known as Ka‛kūli, of which two distinct strata can be distinguished. In these layers, especially the latter, occur pockets containing marl or haur, and in both there are bands of flint.

Over the actual city's site, all this has been denuded long ago. Here we have three layers of limestone of varying density very clearly distinguished by all the native builders and masons:

(1) Mizzeh helu, literally, "sweet mizzeh," a hard, reddish-grey layer capable of polish, and reaching in places to a depth of 70 feet or more. The "holy rock" in the temple-area belongs to this layer, and much of the ancient building stone was of this nature.

(2) Below this is the Melekeh or "royal" layer, which, though not very thick - 35 feet or so - has been of great importance in the history of the city. This rock is peculiar in that when first exposed to the air it is often so soft that it can be cut with a knife, but under the influence of the atmosphere it hardens to make a stone of considerable durability, useful for ordinary buildings. The great importance of this layer, however, lies in the fact that in it have been excavated the hundreds of caverns, cisterns, tombs and aqueducts which honeycomb the city's site.

(3) Under the Melekeh is a Cenomanian limestone of great durability, known as Mizzeh Yehudeh, or "Jewish mizzeh." It is a highly valued building stone though hard to work. Geologically it is distinguished from Mizzeh helu by its containing ammonites. Characteristically, it is a yellowish-grey stone, sometimes slightly reddish. A variety of a distinctly reddish appearance, known as Mizzeh ahmar, or "red mizzeh," makes a very ornamental stone for columns, tombstones, etc.; it takes a high polish and is sometimes locally known as "marble."

This deep layer, which underlies the whole city, comes to the surface in the Kidron valley. the deep layer's impermeability is probably the explanation of the appearance there of the one true spring, the "Virgin's Fount." The water over the site and environs of Jerusalem percolates with ease the upper layer but is conducted to the surface by this hard layer; the comparatively superficial source of the water of this spring accounts for the poorness of its quality.

2. Climate and Rainfall

The broad features of the climate of Jerusalem have probably remained the same throughout history, although there is plenty of evidence that there have been cycles of greater and lesser abundance of rain. The almost countless cisterns belonging to all ages upon the site and the long and complicated conduits for bringing water from a distance, testify that over the greater part of history the rainfall must have been, as at present, only seasonal.

"The city is characterized by a hot summer Mediterranean climate, with hot, dry summers, and mild, wet winters. Snow flurries usually occur once or twice a winter, although the city experiences heavy snowfall every three to four years, on average, with short-lived accumulation. January is the coldest month of the year, with an average temperature of 9.1 °C (48.4 °F); July and August are the hottest months, with an average temperature of 24.2 °C (75.6 °F), and the summer months are usually rainless. The average annual precipitation is around 550 mm (22 in), with rain occurring almost entirely between October and May. Snowfall is rare, and large snowfalls are even more rare. Jerusalem received over 30 centimeters (12 in) of snow on 13 December 2013, which nearly paralyzed the city. A day in Jerusalem has on average, 9.3 sunshine hours.

Most of the air pollution in Jerusalem comes from vehicular traffic. Many main streets in Jerusalem were not built to accommodate such a large volume of traffic, leading to traffic congestion and more carbon monoxide released into the air. Industrial pollution inside the city is sparse, but emissions from factories on the Israeli Mediterranean coast can travel eastward and settle over the city." (Wikipedia)

The most unpleasant weather days occur in May and from the middle of September until the end of October. Those times are when the dry southeast winds - the Sirocco - blow hot and stifling from over the deserts, carrying with them at times fine dust sufficient in quantity to produce a marked haze in the atmosphere. At such times all vegetation droops, and most human beings, especially residents not brought up under such conditions, suffer more or less from depression and physical discomfort; malarial, "sandfly," and other fevers are apt to be peculiarly prevalent. "At that time shall it be said ... to Jerusalem, A hot wind from the bare heights in the wilderness toward the daughter of my people, not to winnow, nor to cleanse" (Jeremiah 4:11).

During the late summer - except at spells of Sirocco - heavy "dews" occur at night. At the end of September or beginning of October the rains fall - not uncommonly in tropical downpours accompanied by thunder. After this there is frequently a dry spell of several weeks, and then the winter's rain falls in December, January and February. In some seasons an abundant rainfall in March gives peculiar satisfaction to the inhabitants by filling up the cisterns late in the season and by producing an abundant harvest. The average rainfall is about 26 inches, the maximum recorded in the city being 42,95 inches in the season 1877-78, and the minimum being 12,5 inches in 1869-70. An abundant rainfall is not only important for storage, for replenishment of the springs and for the crops, but as the city's sewage largely accumulates in the very primitive drains all through the dry season, it requires a considerable force of water to remove it.

3. The Natural Springs

There is only one actual spring in the Jerusalem area, and even to this some authorities would deny the name of true spring on account of the comparatively shallow source of its origin. This is the intermittent spring known today as ‛Ain Umm ed deraj (literally, "spring of the mother of the steps"), called by the native Christians ‛Ain Sitti Miriam (the "spring of the Lady Mary"), and commonly called "The Virgin's Fount." All the archaeological evidence points to this as the source of attraction of earliest occupants of the site; in the Old Testament this spring is known as GIHON. The water arises in the actual bottom though apparent west side, of the Kidron valley some 300 yards due South of the south wall of the Ḥaram ̌.The approach to the spring is down two flights of steps. Upper steps of 16 leading to a small level platform, covered by a modern arch, and a lower, narrower flight of 14 steps, which ends at the mouth of a small cave. The water has its actual source in a long cleft (perhaps 16 ft. long) running East and West in the rocky bottom of the Kidron valley, now many feet below the present surface. The western or higher end of the cleft is at the very entrance of the cave, but most of the water gushes forth from the lower and wider part that lies underneath the steps. When the water is scanty, the women of Siloam creep down into the cavity under the steps and fill their water-skins there; at such times no water at all finds its way into the cave. At the far end of the cave is the opening of that system of ancient tunnel-aqueducts that is described in VI, below. This spring is "intermittent," the water rising rapidly and gushing forth with considerable force, several times in the 24 hours after the rainy season, and only once or twice in the dry. This "intermittent" condition of springs is not uncommon in Palestine. It is explained by the accumulation of the underground water in certain cavities or cracks in the rock, which together make up a reservoir that empties itself by siphon action. Where the accumulated water reaches the bend of the siphon, the overflow commences and continues to run until the reservoir is emptied. Natives, especially Jews, visit the source, even today, at times of its overflow, for healing. Whether this intermittent condition of the fountain is very ancient, it is impossible to say. But, as Jerome ( Comm. in Esa, 86) speaks of it, it was probably present in New Testament times. If, so we have a strong argument for finding here the "Pool of Bethesda."

In ancient times, all the water flowed down the open, rocky valley, but at an early period a wall was constructed to bank up the water and convert the source into a pool. Without such an arrangement, no water could find its way into the cave and the tunnels. The tunnels, described below (VI), were constructed for the purpose (1) of reaching the water supply from within the city walls, and (2) of preventing the enemies of the Jews from getting at the water (2 Chronicles 32:4). The water of this source, though used for all purposes by the people of Siloam, is brackish to the taste, and contains a considerable percentage of sewage; it is quite unfit for drinking. This condition is doubtless due to the wide distribution of sewage, both intentionally (for irrigation of the gardens) and unintentionally (through leaking sewers, etc.), over the soil overlying the rocks from which the water flows. In earlier times the water was certainly purer, and it is probable, too, that the fountain was more copious, as now hundreds of cisterns imprison the waters which once found their way through the soil to the deep sources of the spring.

The waters of the Virgin's Fount find their way through the Siloam tunnel and out at ‛Ain Silwân (the "spring" of Siloam), into the Pool of Siloam. From this source, they descend into the Kidron valley to water the numerous vegetable gardens belonging to the village of Siloam.

The second source of water in Jerusalem is the deep well known as Bı̂r Eyyûb , "Job's well," which is situated a little below the point where the Kidron valley and Hinnom meet. In all probability, it derives its modern name from a legend in the Ḳorân ( Sura 38 5,40-41) which narrates that God commanded Job to stamp with his foot, after that a spring miraculously burst up. The well, which was quite lost sight of, was rediscovered by the Crusaders in 1184 AD and was by them cleaned out. It Isaiah 125 ft. deep. The supply of water in this well is practically inexhaustible, although the quality is no better than that of the "Virgin's Fount". After several days of heavy rain, the water overflows underground and bursts out a few yards lower down the valley as a little stream. This "flowing Kidron" is a great source of attraction to the native residents of Jerusalem, who pour forth from the city to enjoy the rare sight of running water. Somewhere in the neighborhood of Bı̂r Eyyûb must have lain ‛En - Rogel, but if that were once an actual spring, its source is now buried under the great mass of rubbish accumulated here.

Nearly 600 yards South of Bı̂r Eyyûb is a small gravelly basin where, when the Bı̂r Eyyûb overflows, a small spring called ‛Ain el Lozêh (the "spring of the almond") bursts forth. It is not a true spring, but is due to some of the water of Job's well which finds its way along an ancient rock-cut aqueduct on the west side of the Wâdy en Nâr , bursting up here.

The only other possible site of a spring in the Jerusalem area is the Ḥammâm esh Shefâ , "the bath of healing." This is an underground rock-basin in the Tyropoeon valley, within the city walls, in which water collects by percolation through the débris of the city. Though once a reservoir with probably rock-cut channels conducting water to it, it is now a deep well with arches erected over it at various periods, as the rubbish of the city gradually accumulated through the centuries. There is no evidence whatever of there being any natural fountain, and the water is, in the dry season, practically pure sewage, though used in a neighboring Turkish bath.

G.A. Smith thinks that the jackal's well mentioned by Nehemiah (Nehemiah 2:13 ), which must have been situated in the Valley of Hinnom, may possibly have been a temporary spring arising there for a few years in consequence of an earthquake, but it is extremely likely that any well sunk then would tap water flowing along the bed of the valley. There is no such "spring" or "well" there today.

III. The Natural Site

Modern Jerusalem occupies a situation defined geographically as 31 degrees 46 feet 45 inches North latitude., by 35 degrees 13 feet 25 inches East longitude. It lies in the midst of a bare and rocky plateau, the environs being one of the most stony and least fruitful districts in the habitable parts of Palestine, with shallow, gray or reddish soil and many outcrops of bare limestone. Like all the hill slopes with a southeasterly aspect, it is so thoroughly exposed to the full blaze of the summer sun that in its natural condition the site would be more or less barren. Today, however, as a result of diligent cultivation and frequent watering, a considerable growth of trees and shrubs has been produced in the rapidly extending suburbs. The only fruit tree which reaches perfection around Jerusalem is the olive.

1. The Mountains Around

The site of Jerusalem is shut in by a rough triangle of higher mountain ridges: to the West runs the main ridge, or water parting, of Judea, which here makes a sweep to the westward. From this ridge, a spur runs Southeast and East, culminating due East of the city on the Mount of Olives, nearly 2,700 feet above sea-level and about 300 feet above the mean level of the ancient city. Another spur, known as Jebel Deir Abu Tōr, 2,550 feet high, runs East from the plateau of el Buḳei‛a and lies Southwest of the city; it is the traditional "Hill of Evil Counsel." The city site is thus dominated on all sides by these higher ranges - "the mountains (that) are round about Jerus" ( Psalm 125:2 ) - so that while on the one hand the ancient city was hidden, at any considerable distance, from any direction except the Southeast, it is only through this open gap toward the desert and the mountains of Moab that any wide outlook is obtainable. This strange vision of wilderness and distant mountain wall - often of exquisite loveliness in the light of the setting sun - must all through the ages have been the most familiar and the most potent of scenic influences to the inhabitants of Jerusalem.

2. The Valleys

Within the enfolding hills, the city's proper site is demarked by two main valleys. That on the West and Southwest commences in a hollow occupied by the Muslim cemetery around the pool Birket Mamilla. The valley runs due East toward the Jaffa Gate, and there bends South, being known in this upper part of its course as the Wâdy el Mês. In this southern course it is traversed by a great dam, along which the modern Bethlehem road runs, which converts a large area of the valley bed into a great pool, the Birket es Sultân. Below this the valley - under the name of Wâdy er Râbâbi - bends Southeast, then East, and finally Southeast again, until near Bı̂r Eyyûb it joins the western valley to form the Wâdy en Nâr, 670 feet below its origin. This valley is identified as the Valley of Hinnom.

The eastern valley takes a wider sweep. Commencing high up in the plateau to the North of the city, near the great water-parting, it descends as a wide and open valley in a southeasterly direction. Then where it is crossed by the Great North Road, being here known as Wâdy el Jôz (the "Valley of the Walnuts"), it turns more directly East. It gradually curves to the South, and as it runs East of the city walls, it receives the name of Wâdy Sitti Miriam (the "Valley of the Lady Mary"). Below the Southeast corner of the temple-area, near the traditional "Tomb of Absalom," the valley rapidly deepens and takes a direction slightly to the West of South. It passes the "Virgin's Fount," and a quarter of a mile lower it is joined by el Wād from the North, and a little farther on by the Wâdy er Râbâbi from the West. South of Bı̂r Eyyûb, the valley formed by their union continues under the name of Wâdy en Nâr to the Dead Sea. This western valley is that commonly known as the Brook Kidron, or, more shortly, the "Brook" ( naḥal ), or ravine. It was named from the 5th century onward by Christians the Valley of Jehoshaphat. The rocky tongue of land enclosed between these deep ravines, an area a little over one mile long by half a mile wide, is further subdivided into a number of distinct hills by some shallower valleys. The most prominent of these is the great central valley known to modern times by the single name el Wād, "the valley." It commences in a slight depression of the ground a little North of the "Damascus Gate," and after entering the city at this gate it rapidly deepens. It traverses the city with the Ḥaram to its east, and the Christian and Muslim quarters on rapidly rising ground to its west. Its course is observed near the Bâb es Silseleh, where it is crossed by an ancient causeway, but farther South the valley reappears, having the walls of the Ḥaram (near the "wailing place" and "Robinson's arch") on the East, and steep cliffs crossed by houses of the Jewish quarter on the West. It leaves the city at the "Dung Gate," and passes with an open curve to the East, until it reaches the Pool of Siloam, below' which it merges in the Wâdy Sitti Miriam. This path is the course of the main valley. But a branch of great importance in the ancient topography of the city starts some 50 yards to the West of the modern Jaffa Gate and runs down the Suwaikat Allûngenerally known to travelers as "David's Street," and thus easterly, along the Tarı̂k bâb es Silseleh , until it merges in the main valley. The main valley is usually considered to be the Tyropoeon, or "Cheesemongers' Valley" of Josephus, but some writers have attempted to confine the name especially to this western arm of it.

Another interior valley cuts diagonally across the Northeast corner of the modern city. It has no modern name though it is sometimes called "St. Anne's Valley." It arises in the plateau near "Herod's Gate," known as es Ṣahra. It enters the city about 100 yards to the East of that gate, runs South-Southeast, and leaves the city between the Northeast angle of the Ḥaram and the Golden Gate, joining the Kidron valley farther Southeast. The Birket Israel runs across the width of this valley, which had much influence in determining the ancient topography of the city. There is an artificially made valley between the Ḥaram and the buildings to its north. There is thought by many to be a valley between the Southeast hill, commonly called "Ophel" and the temple area. Such, then, are the valleys, great and small, by which the historic hills on which the city stood are defined. All of them, particularly in their southern parts, were considerably deeper in ancient times. All of them were originally torrent beds, dry except immediately after heavy rain. The only perennial outflow of water is the scanty and intermittent stream that overflows from the Pool of Siloam and is used to irrigate the gardens in the Wâdy Sitti Miriam.

3. The Hills

The East and West valleys isolate a roughly quadrilateral tongue of land running from Northwest-West to South-Southeast and tilted so as to face Southeast. This tongue is further subdivided by el Wād into two long ridges, which merge into each other in the plateau to the North. The western ridge has its actual origin considerably North of the modern wall, being part of the high ground lying between the modern Jaffa road to the West, and the commencement of the Kidron valley to the East. Within the city walls, it rises as high as 2,581 feet near the northwestern corner. It is divided by the west branch of the Tyropoeon valley into two parts: a northern part - the northwestern hill - on which is situated today the Church of the Holy Sepulchre and the greater part of the "Christian quarter" of the city, and a southern hill - the southwestern - which is connected with the northwestern hill by but a narrow saddle - 50 yards wide - near the Jaffa Gate. This hill sustains the citadel (the so-called "Tower of David"), the barracks and the Armenian quarter within the walls, and the Coenaculum and adjacent buildings outside the walls. This hill is from 2,500 to 2,350 feet high on its summit but drops rapidly on its southwestern, southern and southeastern sides. In its central part, it falls much more gently toward the eastern hill across the now largely filled valley el Wad.

The eastern ridge begins at the rocky hill el - Edhemı̂yeh - popularly known as Gordon's Calvary - but the wide trench made here by quarrying somewhat obscures this fact. The ridge presents three parts, the northeastern, central or central-eastern, and southeastern summits. The northeastern hill within the modern wall supports the Muslim quarter and rises in places to a height of over 2,500 feet. It narrows to a mere neck near the "Ecce Homo" arch, where it joins to the barracks, on the site of the ancient Antonia. Under the present surface it is here separated from the temple summit by a deep rocky trench.

The central, or central-eastern, summit is that appearing as es Sakhra, the sacred temple rock, which is 2,404 feet high. This is the highest point from which the ground rapidly falls East, West, and South, but the natural contours of the adjacent ground are much obscured by the great substructures which have been made to sustain the temple platform.

The sloping, southeastern, Hill, South of the temple area appears today to have a steady fall of from 2,350 feet just South of the Ḥaram southern wall to a little over 2,100 feet near the Pool of Siloam. It is a narrow ridge running in a somewhat curved direction, with a summit near 200 feet above the Kidron and 100 feet above the bed of the Tyropoeon. In length, it is not more than 600 yards, in width, at its widest, only 150 yards. In earlier times, at least three of its sides were protected by deep valleys, and probably on quite two-thirds of its circumference its summit was surrounded by natural rocky scarps.The city covering so hilly a site like this must ever have consisted, as it does today, of houses terraced on steep slopes' with stairways for streets.

IV. General Topography of Jerusalem

From the foregoing description of the "natural site," it will be seen that we have to deal with 5 natural subdivisions or hills, two on the western and three on the eastern ridges.

1. Description of Josephus

In discussing the topography, it is useful to begin with the description of Josephus, where he gives to these five areas the names common in his day ( BJ, V, iv, 1,2). He says: "The city was built upon two hills that are opposite to one another and have a valley to divide them asunder ... Now the Valley of the Cheesemongers, as it was called and was that which distinguished the hill of the upper city from that of the lower, extended as far as Siloam" (ibid., V, iv, 1). Here we get the first prominent physical feature, the bisection of the city site into two main hills. Further on, however, in the same passage - one, it must be admitted, of some obscurity - Josephus distinguishes five distinct regions:

(1) The Upper City or Upper Market Place

(The hill) "which sustains the upper city is much higher and in length more direct. Accordingly, it was called the citadel ( φρούριον , phroúrion ) of King David ... but it is by us called the Upper Market Place." This is without dispute the southwestern hill.

(2) Akra and Lower City

"The other hill, which was called Akra, and sustains the lower city, was double-curved" ( ἀμφίκυρτος ,amphı́kurtos ). The description can apply only to the semicircular shape of the southeastern hill, as viewed from the "upper city." These names, "Akra" and "Lower City," are, with reservations, therefore, to be applied to the southeastern hill.

(3) The Temple Hill

Josephus' description here is curious, on account of its indefiniteness, but there can be no question as to which hill he intends. He writes: "Over against this is a third hill, but naturally lower than the Akra and parted formerly from the other by a fiat valley. However, in those times when the Hasmoneans reigned, they did away with this valley, wishing to connect the city with the temple; and cutting down the summit of the Akra, they made it lower, so that the temple might be visible over it." Comparison with other passages shows that this "third hill" is the central-eastern - the "Temple Hill."

(4) Bezetha

"It was Agrippa who encompassed the parts added to the old city with this wall (i.e. the third wall) which had been all naked before; for as the city grew more populous, it gradually crept beyond its old limits, and those parts of it that stood northward of the Temple, and joined that hill to the city, made it considerably larger, and occasioned that hill which is in number the fourth, and is called 'Bezetha,' to be inhabited also. It lies over against the tower Antonia, but is divided from it by a deep valley, which was dug on purpose.... This new-built part of the city was called 'Bezetha' in our language, which, if interpreted in the Greek language, may be called the 'New City.'" This is clearly the northeastern hill.

(5) The Northern Quarter of the City

From the account of the walls given by Josephus, it is evident that the northern part of his "first wall" ran along the northern edge of the southwestern hill; the second wall enclosed the inhabited part of the northwestern hill. Thus Josephus writes: "The second wall took its beginning from the gate which they called Gennath in the first wall, and enclosing, the northern quarter only reached to the Antonia." This area is not described as a separate hill, as the inhabited area, except on the South, was defined by no natural valleys, and besides covering the northwestern hill, must have extended into the Tyropoeon valley.

2. Summary of the Names of the Five Hills

Here then we have Josephus' names for these five districts:

(1) Southwestern Hill

Southwestern Hill, "Upper City" and "Upper Market Place"; also the Summary, Phrourion , or "fortress of David." From the 4th century ad, this hill has also been known as "Zion," and on it today is the so-called "Tower of David," built on the foundations of two of Herod's great towers.

(2) Northwestern Hill

"The northern quarter of the city." This district does not appear to have had any other name in Old Testament or New Testament, though some of the older authorities would place the "Akra" here (see infra). Today it is the "Christian quarter" of Jerusalem, which centers round the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.

(3) Northeastern Hill

"Bezetha" or "New City," even now a somewhat sparsely inhabited area, has no name in Biblical literature.

(4) Central-Eastern Hill

The "third hill" of Josephus, clearly the site of the Temple which, as Josephus says ( BJ , V, v), "was built upon a strong hill." In earlier times, it was the "threshing-floor of Araunah the Jebusite." The temple hill is also in many of the Hebrew writings called Zion.

(5) Southeastern Hill

This Josephus calls "Akra" and "Lower City," there are other names which have at one period or another come to be applied to this hill, namely, "City of David," "Zion" and "Ophel."

V. Excavations and Antiquities

During the past hundred years, explorations and excavations of a succession of engineers and archaeologists have furnished an enormous mass of observations for the understanding of the condition of ancient Jerusalem. Some of the important are as follows:

In 1833 Messrs. Bonorni, Catherwood and Arundale made a first thorough survey of the Ḥaram (temple-area), a work which was the foundation of all subsequent maps for over a quarter of a century.

1. Robinson

In 1838, and again in 1852, the famous American traveler and divine, E. Robinson, D.D., visited the land as the representative of an American society, and made a series of brilliant topographical investigations of profound importance to all students of the Holy Land, even today.

In 1849 Jerusalem was surveyed by Lieuts. Aldrich and Symonds of the Royal Engineers, and the data acquired were used for a map constructed by Van de Vilde and published by T. Tobler.

In 1857 an American, J.T. Barclay, published another map of Jerusalem and its environs "from actual and minute survey made on the spot."

In 1860-1863 De Vogüé in the course of some elaborate researches in Syria explored the site of the sanctuary.

2. Wilson and the Palestine Exploration Fund (1865)

In 1864-65 a committee was formed in London to consider the sanitary condition of Jerusalem, especially with a view to furnishing the city with a satisfactory water-supply, and Lady Burdett-Coutts gave 500 pounds toward a proper survey of Jerusalem and its environs as a preliminary step. Captain (later Lieutenant-General Sir Charles) Wilson, R.E., was lent by the Ordnance Survey Department of Great Britain for the purpose. The results of this survey, and of certain tentative excavations and observations made at the same time, were so encouraging that in 1865 "The Palestine Exploration Fund" was constituted, "for the purpose of investigating the archaeology, geography, geology, and natural history of the Holy Land."

3. Warren and Conder

During 1867-70 Captain (later Lieutenant-General Sir Charles) Warren, R.E., carried out a series of most exciting and original excavations all over the site of Jerusalem, especially around the Ḥaram ̌. During 1872-75 Lieutenant (later Lieutenant-Colonel) Conder, R.E., in the course of the great survey of Western Palestine, made further contributions to our knowledge of the Holy City.

4. Maudslay

In 1875 Mr. Henry Maudslay, taking advantage of the occasion of the rebuilding of "Bishop Gobat's Boys' School," made a careful examination of the remarkable rock cuttings which are now more or less incorporated into the school buildings, and made considerable excavations, the results being described inPEFS (April, 1875).

In 1881 Professor Guthe made a series of important excavations on the southeastern hill, commonly called "Ophel," and also near the Pool of Siloam; his reports were published in ZDPV , 1882.

5. Schick

The same year (1881), the famous Siloam inscription was discovered and was first reported by Herr Baurath Schick, a resident in Jerusalem who from 1866 until his death in 1901 made a long series of observations of the highest importance on the topography of Jerusalem. He had unique opportunities for scientifically examining the buildings in the Ḥaram , and the results of his study of the details of that locality are incorporated in his wonderful Temple model. He also made a detailed report of the ancient aqueducts of the city. Most important of all were the records he so patiently and faithfully kept of the rock levels in all parts of the city's site whenever the digging of foundations for buildings or other excavations gave access to the rock. His contributions to the PEF and ZDPV run into hundreds of articles.

6. Clermont-Ganneau

M. Clermont-Ganneau, who was resident in Jerusalem in the French consular service, made for many years, from 1880 onward, a large number of acute observations on the archaeology of Jerusalem and its environs, many of which were published by the PEF . Another name honored in connection with the careful study of the topography of Jerusalem over somewhat the same period is that of Selah Merrill, D.D., for many years U.S. consul in Jerusalem.

7. Bliss and Dickie

In 1894-97 the Palestine Exploration Fund conducted an elaborate series of excavations with a view to determining in particular the course of the ancient southern walls under the direction of Mr. T.J. Bliss (son of Daniel Bliss, D.D., then president of the Syrian Protestant College, Beirût). He was assisted by Mr. A.C. Dickie as architect. After picking up the buried foundations of walls at the southeastern corner where "Maudslay's scarp" was exposed in the Protestant cemetery, Bliss and Dickie followed them all the way to the Pool of Siloam, across the Tyropoeon and on to "Ophel" - and also in other directions. Discoveries of interest were also made in the neighborhood of the Pool of Siloam.

Following upon these excavations a number of private investigations have been made by the Augustinians in a large estate they have acquired on the East side of the traditional hill of Zion.

In 1909-1911 a party of Englishmen, under Captain the Honorable M. Parker, made a number of explorations with very elaborate tunnels upon the hill of Ophel, immediately above the Virgin's Fount. In the course of their work, they cleaned out the whole Siloam aqueduct, finding some new passages; they reconstructed the Siloam Pool, and they completed Warren's previous investigation in the neighborhood of what has been known as "Warren's Shaft."

VI. The City's Walls and Gates

The Existing Walls

Although the existing walls of Jerusalem go back in their present form to the days of Suleiman the Magnificent, circa 1542 ad, their study is an essential preliminary to the understanding of the ancient walls. The total circuit of the modern walls is 4,326 yards, or nearly 2 1/8 miles, their average heightIsaiah 35 ft., and they have altogether 35 towers and eight gates - one of which is walled up. They make a rough square, with the four sides facing the cardinal points of the compass. The masonry is of various kinds, and on every side there are pieces of evidence that the present walls are a patchwork of many periods. The northern wall, from near the northwestern angle to some distance East of the "Damascus Gate," lies parallel with, though somewhat inside of, an ancient fosse, and it and the gate itself evidently follow ancient lines. The eastern and western walls, following as they do a general direction along the edges of deep valleys, must be more or less along the course of earlier walls. The eastern wall, from a little south of Stephen's Gate to the southeastern angle, contains many ancient courses, and the general line is at least as old as the time of Herod the Great. The stretch of western wall from the so-called "Tower of David" to the southwestern corner is certainly along an ancient line and has persisted through very many centuries. This line of wall was allowed to remain undestroyed when Titus leveled the remainder. At the northwestern angle are some remains known as Ḳala‛at Jalûd ("Goliath's castle"). These are those which, though mainly medieval, contain a rocky core and some masonry of Herodian times, which are commonly accepted as the relics of the lofty tower Psephinus.

Bibliography Information
Orr, James, M.A., D.D. General Editor. Entry for 'Jerusalem'. International Standard Bible Encyclopedia. 1915.

Last modified: Wednesday, August 8, 2018, 12:36 PM